Charles B. Cory
Montezuma's Castle (1899)
Genre: Travel Adventure
Length: Three Pages
Summary - No Spoiler
The tale is a retelling of an event that is told by the collector, and told to us by the author. The curiosity dealer goes into a cave in search of curios that he can sell to the curious. The search for junk leads him to the edge of his life as he is betrayed by his assistant.
Quote
"What is an ibex?" I asked.
"I'll be hanged if I know," answered the collector. "But there are fellows in these mountains who say that there really are such animals, and if he wanted to have an ibex, and had to have an ibex, I might as well get him an ibex as anybody else, even if I had to make one.
Writers Notes
Write about what you know, this story is believable because it focuses on something the author does a lot, travel to distant lands in order to find the perfect specimen. He probably was annoyed at all of the hacks that were involved in the trade and wanted to buffoon the men who practiced curiosity dealing. Use your annoyances to come up with a good story.
Tidbits
- Charles B Cory was an avid golfer and played the game in the Olympics.
- Due to his ability to travel anywhere he wished this soon became the best collection of birds of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico in existence.
- He lost his fortune in 1906.